1

1ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHARACTER EDUCATION Yogyabarta State University

November 8-9, 2011

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

DAY 1: TUESDAY (NOVEMBER 8,2011)

07.15 - 08.00 Registration Auditorium of YSU

Opening 08.00 -08.45 Auditorium of YSU

Ceremony

08.45 . 09.45 Keynote Speech

Keynote Speaker:

Prof. dr. Fasli Jalal, Ph.D, Sp.GK.

Auditorium of YSU

1. Bernice Lerner, Ed.D.

Educating Heart and Mind: Strategies for School-Wide

Character Education 10.00 -12.00

Plenary Session 1

2. Prof. Dr. IB I Gede Raka

Co-creation Approach in Character Education

Auditorium of YSU 3. Prof. Dr. Azyumardi Azra Role of Family in Character Education

Chair: Sugirin, PhD

Secretary: Dr. Paidi

Presenters of Group A1 Meeting Hall, Faculty of Education of YSU

13.00 - 14.30 Parallel Session 1 Presenters of Group 81

Graduate School Meeting Hall

Presenters of Group C1 Auditorium of YSU

15.00 -16.30 Parallel Session 2

Presenters of Group A2 Meeting Hall, Faculty of Education of YSU

Graduate School Meeting

Presenters of Group 82 Hall

Presenters of Group C2 Auditorium of YSU

2

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1ST INTERNATIONALCONFERENCE ON CHARACTER EDUCATION Vogyabarta State University

November 8-9, 2011

DAY 2: WEDNESDAY (NOVEMBER 9, 2011)

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:_,.' ­" .¥'!.l!ue '" 07.30 - 08.00 Registration Auditorium of YSU

1. Dr. He Ary Ginanjar Agustian

2. Dr. Vishal ache Balakhrisnan

Using Real­Life Moral Dilemma Discussions to Teach

Character Education 08.00 - 09.30 Plenary Session 2

3. Bernice lerner, Ed.D. Auditorium of YSU

In and Beyond the Classroom: Educating for Courage

Chair: Suhaini M. Saleh, M.A.

Secretary: Dr. Marsigi"t

_09.30 ."q:.4_~I,~(C;;W~a1t.~ --..- -=_- ~ .,.1''''' -'" _" ,~ _~ .sr. .'lI

1. Prof. Oarmiyati Zuchdi, Ed.D. and Prof. Suwarsih Madya, Ph.D.

Developing Integrity through language Education/ A

Systemic Approach to Character Education in Indonesia: A

Citizen­Practltloner's Perspective

2. Sibrieg H. Scbreuder, M.Ed.

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09.45 - 11.30 Plenary Session 3 Non Scholae sed vitae discimus: Character Education, Auditorium of YSU

Threats and Opportunities

3. Frank Dhont, Cando Ph.D.

Character Education and National Development:

Indonesian Society and the American Perspective

Chair: Drs. Sugi Iswalono, M.A.

Secretary: Dr. Sukirno

1.1,.30 -12.3,0 l~nq. Sreak" ' ~:~~..~. 'a~.' Audil!lriu'*,;>fYS_V

Meeting Hall, Faculty of Presenters of Group A3

Education of YSU

12.30 -14.00 Parallel Session 3

Presenters of Group B3

Graduate School Meeting

Hall

Presenters of Group (3 Auditorium of YSU

Presenters of Group A4

Meeting Hall, Faculty of

Education of YSU

14.00 -15.30 Parallel Session 4

Presenters of Group B4

Graduate School Meeting

Hall

Presenters of Group (4 Auditorium of YSU

Wrap­up Session,

15.30 -16.30 Closing Remarks Prof. Suwarsih Madya, Ph.D. Auditorium of YSU

and Coffee Break

3

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,ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHARACTER EDUCATION Yogyabarta State University

November 8-9, 2011

PARALLEL SESSION PRESENTATION

DAY 1: PARALLELSESSION1

Group AI, Venue: Meeting Hall, Faculty of Education of Yogyakarta State University

, c•' •

Tinfe

I··'

Author(s)

'j.; ;..

, ~ 't $";. ~ '~­'!:,~ .' , ,{ p'!;~ '"'" '1'<1< Title cif ~reseil~ation'

Ii: ".

'''-'.<

13.00 -13.20 Yulia Ayriza Early Childhood Children's Character Education Through

Playing

13.20 -13.40 Mugijatna Teaching from Negeri 5 Menara by Ahmad Fuadi

13.40 -14.00 Kadek Sonia Piscayanti

The Role of Literature (Prose Fiction Writing) to Build

Student's Character

14.00 - 14.20 Wawan S. Suherman Utilization of Play in Developing Kindergartener's Character

Group 81, Venue: Meeting Hall, Graduate School ofYogyakarta State University

13.00 - 13.15 Nyoman Karina Wedhanti

13.15 -13.30 Nur Hayati

Samsiah Mohd Jais and Ab. Aziz

Local Wisdom in EFLClassroom: Balinese Literature Based in

Teaching Speaking

Establishing Environmental Awareness Character of Children

Through ESDLearning Using Art­Craft

Prodigy: an Innovative Approach for Character 13.30 -13.45

Md. Yatim Development

13.45 -14.00 Mulyana

Character Development through Pencak SilatTraining

14.00 - 14.15

OM. Ria Hidayati and Noor Aini

Ahmad

Simulation Activity of Nenek Si Bangkok Tiga as Play Therapy

to Help Students with Special Needs in Speaking Skill

Group Cl, Venue: Auditorium of Yogyakarta State University

Tim!!

13.00 -13.15 M.J. Dewiyani and Tri Sagirani

13.15 -13.30 Sukarno

The Use of Myers Briggs Type Indicator in Educating the

Nation Character Based on Understanding Thinking Process

Profile

Integrating Local Cultures in Teaching English as a Foreign

Language for Character Building: Enhancing National

Integrity

13.30 - 13.45 Huriah Rachmah

Character Education in Schools: Reflection of Educators

13.45 -14.00 Hernawati W Retno Wiratih

14.00 -14.15 Purnama Esa Dora and Maria Suzanna G. Poetiray

The Cultural Wisdom, as Foundation Character

Development Approach

The Role of Basic Design Course in the Introduction and

Development of Local Culture Values

4

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lIT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHARACTER EDUCATION Yogyabarta State University

NoVember 8-9, 2011

DAY 1: PARAllEl SESSION2

Grc4., A2, Venue: Meeting Hall, Faculty of Education of Yogyakarta State University

­ '!': ~ ;>l. ~, ':, },/7 :-<i<.", ,~ l" , .... ."

Time4t ';. ~. ~.(\I~ !(i(Tltle Of Presentation

~.'.

,«0 ",'if.;,.,4""",,.-,* '_' !.ii ", i,,,," ~"');'>}'i "'~' "'''''.? x: ," , Sunu Dwi Antoro & Ary

15.00 ­ 15.15 Purwantiningsih

Character Education through Distance Learning System

15.15 ­1530 Indahria Sulistyarini Character Education through Mega Skill Method

15.30 ­15.45 Sukamto Developing Curriculum and Programs of Character Education

15.45 ­ 16.00 Sri Wening Assessment and Evaluation in Character Education

16.00 ­ 16.15 Kun Setyaning Astuti Developing a Model for an Evaluation of Character Education in Music Learning

Group 62, Venue: Meeting Hall, Graduate School of Yogyakarta State University

15.00 ­ 15.20

15.20 ­ 15.40

lia Widyanti, Santi Afriani, and

Syifa Fauziah DM. Ria Hidayati and Eny

Purwandari

Family's Role and Preschool Education Background,and Its

Influence to Prosocial Behavior, Character and Multiple

Intelligence of Teenagers at Bogor

Modification of Setrap Application through Time Out in

Children With ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity

Disorder) in Family Setting

Role of Parents and Teachers Building Character in the Early IS.40 ­ 16.00 Jamilah

Childhood

16.00 ­16.20 Rudy Gunawan Role of Family Environment in Character Development

Group C2, Venue: Auditorium of Yogyakarta State University

.,... .f?~~ "':as".!:"''" ~.., '.~ , . ,~ .' f. W;'

Time ...

Author(s)l J ~"" ; :. Title of Pres,entation ,

15.00 ­15.15 Encep Supriatna Teaching History Education Based on Culture and Religion Values in Old Banten Area for Enhancing Student Character

Generating Positive Human Values through Peer Assessment 15.15 ­ 15.30 I.G.A. Lokita Purnamika Utami

15.30 ­ 15.45 Bruno Rumyaru

as Part of Character Education

The Role of Religion & Spirituality for a Good Character and

Wisdom of the Future Professionals

15.45 ­ 16.00 Tri Sagirani and M.J. Dewayani Pioneering of Superior and Cultured Human Resources Based on Holistic Intellegence

A Comprehensive Approach of Character Education: A Case

16.00 ­ 16.15 Duna Izfanna and Nik Ahmad

Hisyam Study on Its Implementation at Pondok Pesantren

Darunnajah

5

~

1STINTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHARACTER EDUCATION Yogyabarta State University

November 8-9, 2011

DAY 2: PARALLELSESSION3

Group A3, Venue: Meeting Hall, Faculty of Education of Yogyakarta State University

, Time Author[s)

12.30 -12.50 Saeid Farahbakhsh

Tille of Presentatlcn , 7,

The Role of Emotionallnteliigence in Increasing Quality of'

Work Life in School Principals

Culture­Sensitive Pedagogies for RSBISchools in Indonesia: A 12.50 -13.10 Irfa Puspitasari,

Globalization Challenge

Musyawarah Combined with Social Entrepreneurship as a 13.10 -13.30 p, Wiryono Priyotamtama

13.30 -13.50 Dwi Esti Andriani

Potential Character Education for Social Activists

The Role of Principal Leadership in the Implementation of

Comprehensive Character Education

Group B3, Venue: Meeting Hall, Graduate School of Yogyakarta State University

Time Autitor(s) . Title of Presenta,tion

12.30 -12.50 Anna Armeini Rangkuti 'Opportunity' as a Threat to Academic Integrity

12.50 -13.10 Siti Irene Astuti

Character Education Strategy in Sociology Anthropology of

Education Subject Using Problem Solving Approach

Implementation of Educational Values as a Model Academic

13.10 -13.30 Sardjiyo Support on Character Education (CaseStudies in Education

University of Indonesia)

Revisiting "Soempah Pemoeda" for strengthening Udin Saripudin Winataputra and

13.30 -13.50 National Character of Students (a Civic Education's Sumanah Saripudin

Perspective)

Grou~"C3)tenue: Auditorium of Yogyakarta State University

"--"

Time Author(s) Title of Presentation ~,

12.30 -12.45 Ary Purwantiningsih and Sunu The Effect of Character Education on Students Learning Dwi Antoro Acheivement

The Influence otTeacher­Child Relationships on Students' 12.45 -13.00 Deasyanti and Greg Shaw

Behaviour

The Effectivity of Theme Identification Program for Moral

13.00 -13.15 Stefanus Soejanto Sandjaja Theme Comprehension as Character Education Model at

Elementary School

The Development Strategy of Character Education Model 13.15 -13.30 Tri Rejeki Andayani

Based on Local Wisdom of Javanese Culture

13.30 -13.45 Nunik Sugesti

The Implementation of Character Education in the Teaching

of English in Indonesian Schools

6

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\j 14.00 -14.20

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1ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHARACTER EDUCATION Yo~yaharta State University

November 8-9, 2011

DAY2: PARALLESLESSION4

Group A4, Venue: Meeting H~II, Faculty of Education of.Yogyakarta State University

,i

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Time "IAuthor! s] 4 ,,_' ©•'''i

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)'~; ~r;,;;~<.':~i-~ " <. :... . ... . ­­f.­rJ~l,~ ~/!r~~ntatlon x

EvieFitri Astuti, Hilda Safitri,

14.00 - 14.20 Christine P.Balleren and Dewi

Regina

Comparation Study on CharacterEducationat Schoolsin

JapanAnd Indonesia

14.20 -14.40 Sri Handoyo Rebuildingthe SocialCapital of the West and EastTimorese Despite the Inevitable Geospatiallnternational LandBorder

Transnationalismand Culture Translation through Media 14.40 - 15.00 Retno Mustikawati

Television: a Study on Hallyu in Indonesia

15.00 -15,20 EndahPuspitaSari Teacher: Digugu Lan Ditiru (Hidden Character Educationfor the Teachers)

GrouR B4)enue: Meeting Hall, Graduate School of Yogyakarta State University

\ I " ­<..:/

:.TIme·

14.00 - 14.20 Lusi Nurhayati

CharactersBuilding in the Practiceof EnglishTeachingand

Learningin ElementarySchool

14.20 -14.40 Noor Sudiyati ExploringAttitudinal Policy in Arts A CaseStudy: CeramicMaking

Optimizing Story Telling Method in Instilling Morals on 14.40 - 15.00 HazhiraQudsyi

Children

15.00 - 15.20 Tatit Hariyanti SustainedCharacter Building through Literature

Group (4, Venue: Auditorium of Yogyakarta State University

YurisA.S.,Ayu Marlika L.P.,

Fahmi D.H. Curriculum Ageswith Nine Pillar Indonesia Heritage Foundation (IHF)

Promoting CharacterEducationby Utilizing Poverty Issuein 14.20 -14.40 Mierza Miranti

ELTAlong with the SugarGroup Schools' Pillarsof Characters

14.40- 15.00 Kardjono The Effectsof Outdoor Educationon DevelopingAwareness

of Natural Environment Conservation

15.00 - 15.20 Kartika BayuPrimasanti A Dilemma of Media_inCharacter Education

........

Early Childhood Children's Character Education through Playing

Yulia Ayriza

Yogyakarta State University

yulia_ayriza@uny.ac.id

Abstract

Nowadays in Indonesia, there have been so many social problems happening around

us that cause many educators (parents, teachers, and society) to feel concerned. All of

these social problems end up to character values. It has therefore become a national

responsibility for providing a common concern for character education. Character

education as a solution to social and national problems needs to be developed as early

as possible since individuals are at their early childhood (0-8 years). If such education

is successfully developed to children, and the character values become the foundation

of their personality, the following phase of education will be more easily developed.

Considering that most children's activities consist of playing, the best method to

develop children's character education is through playing activities. Through joyful

playing under the educators' guidance (parents', teachers', and societies'), children

will acquire knowledge about the values of virtues (knowing the good / moral

knowing), feel, want and love the values of kindness (desiring the good or loving the

good / moral feeling), and perform good behaviors (acting the good / moral action). In

this manner, the process of character values internalization, from the external into

conscience, transpires in joyful way without any coercion.

Keywords: Character education, playing, early childhood children

.. ~~~ 1st International Conference on Character Education

Yogyakarta State University, November 8­9,2011 ~

8

EARLY CHILDHOOD CHILDREN'S CHARACTER EDUCATION THROUGH PLAYING

Yulia Ayriza

Yogyakarta State University

Faculty of Education ayriza_03@yahoo.co.id

ABSTRACT

Nowadays in Indonesia, there have been so many social problems happening around us that cause

many educators (parents, teachers, and society) to feel concerned. All of these social problems

end up to character values. It has therefore become a national responsibility for providing a common concern for character education. Character education as a solution to social and national

problems needs to be developed as early as possible since individuals are at their early childhood

(0-8 years). If such education is successfully developed to children, and the character values

become the foundation of their personality, the following phase of education will be more easily

developed. Considering that most children's activities consist of playing, the best method to develop

children's character education is through playing activities. Through joyful playing under the

educators' guidance (parents', teachers', and societies'), children will acquire knowledge about the

values of virtues (knowing the good / moral knowing), feel, want and love the values of kindness

(desiring the good or loving the good / moral feeling), and perform good behaviors (acting the good

/ moral action). In this manner, the process of character values internalization, from the external into

conscience, transpires in joyful way without any coercion.

Keywords: Character education, playing, early childhood children

INTRODUCTION

In Indonesia, there are at present many social problems created by individuals of all ages, ranging from children bullying their peers, teenagers

performing free sexual behaviors, students engaged in gang fighting, husbands or wives cheating on their spouses, government officials abusing their authorities to elderly people committing suicide because of unbearable heavy­ life­burden, and many more other events that make educators need to reflect on what has been wrong with the education. Some groups of people criticize the

system of instruction and education in schools. Is it fair enough to lay the fault solely upon the responsibility of the schools? Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudoyono urges on all people nationwide to give a common concern for character education because all the problems that occur in this society and

nation end up downstream to character values. Thus, the responsibility of character education is not charged solely upon schools but also on educators in

general, including schools, families, societies, and the nation. If character education is not successfully committed, let us not ever wish to achieve Indonesia's peaceful, well­mannered, prosperous, and affluent future (Madina,

2010). Character education as a solution to social and national problems needs

to be developed as early as possible from the moments individuals are at their

early childhood (0­8 years). If such education is successfully developed to children, and the character values become the foundation of their personality,

Yulia Ayriza­ Early Childhood Children's Character Education through Playing

accordance with Isaac's opinion (in Isenberg & Jalongo, 2003) that play is children's

natural resource for learning.

B. RELEVANCY BETWEEN PLAYING AND CHARACTER EDUCATION

B.1. Relevancy between Characteristics and the Importance of Play and Character Education

Playing is a fun activity, undertaken for the benefit of the activity itself (Santrock,

2002, p. 272). According to Isenberg and Jalongo (2003), there are five important characteristics

of play, that is, voluntary and intrinsically motivated, symbolic and meaningful, active,

rule­bound, and pleasurable. Considering the importance of play for early childhood children, three leaders,

John Dewey, Patty Smith Hill, and Susan Issac (in Isenberg & Jalongo, 2003) each

stated that children acquire cognitive and social skill through playing. Isaac even

protected children's right to play and encouraged parents to stimulate their children to

play by saying that play is children's natural learning resource.

According to The International Association for Childhood Education and The

National Association for the Education of Young Children, play is important because it

lets children explore their world, develops social and cultural understanding, helps

children to express their thoughts and feelings, gives children the opportunity to meet

and resolve the problem, and develops language and literacy skills and concepts (in

Isenberg & Quisenberry, 1988). Based on the characteristics and the importance of play, it is concluded that play

has a very essential meaning in children's lives for developing both cognitive and social

skills through pleasurable activities. Specifically for character education, children can

gradually learn and become aware of the fact that human beings' activities are

controlled or governed by some rules through rule­bound playing. From this point,

children may further learn other social and cultural rules, including good characters

according to national and local cultural views.

B.2. Relevancy between Classification of Play and Character Education

According to Parten (in Santrock, 2008), if play is viewed from social development,

started from the least up to the most of one's social maturity, it can be classified into six

levels.

a. Unoccupied play: observing other children's playing activities, playing with his /her

own body, going up and down the chair, performing random movements without a

certain goal, looking around the room.

b. Solitary play: playing alone and independently on others.

c. Onlooker play: playing while seeing his/her friends playing, children can ask their

friends who are playing some questions, but there is no attempt or intention to get

into the play.

d. Parallel Play: playing in parallel with their friends, playing with the same materials,

but each works independently.

e. Associative play: playing in throngs; children play together with a little or without

organization. They talk and ask one another questions, and borrow toys from one

another.

f. Cooperative play: playing cooperatively with a common goal in a group that brings

about a sense of group identity for the members. There are rules and variety of roles

of the members of each group, and the activities undertaken are organized. In a

competition, the activities are aimed at winning each own group.

Yulia Ayriza­ Early Childhood Children's Character Education through Playing

the following phase of education will be more easily developed. This is similar to

what Freud argued that the failure to form a good personality in early childhood

will later bring about a problematic one in a person's adulthood (Freud, in

Muslich, 2011). Considering that children's most activities consist of playing, the best

means to develop character in their early childhood is through play activities.

Based on the problem as described, the paper is to discuss early childhood

children's character education through playing. For the purpose, the paper will

be preceded by a discussion of character, followed by relevance of play and

character education, and closed with a conclusion.

A.CHARACTER

A. 1. Definition of Character

According to Sykes (in Wasesa, 2011), character is a description of one's moral or psychological qualities which are readable from his/her attitude and behavior pattern, involving thoughts, feelings, and actions.

In line with Wasesa, Munir (2010) defined character as one's established pattern of thoughts, attitudes, and actions.

While Alwisol defined character as a description of one's behavior which accentuates the values of right or wrong, and good or bad, either explicitly or implicitly (2006, p. 8).

In sum, character can be defined as one's quality description or behavior pattern that includes thoughts, feelings, and actions with the dimensions of good­bad or right­ wrong, either explicitly or implicitly.

A.2. Character Education and Its Aim

Related to the definition of character which includes three aspects: thoughts, feelings, and actions, as well as dimensions of good­bad, character education can be defined as manner education to inculcate human moral values consciously and tangibly, involving elements of: (a) cognition, covering mind, knowledge, and awareness; (b) affection or feeling, and (c) psychomotor or behavior or action (Muslich, 2011; Suyanto, 2009).

Still concerning three aspects of character and its dimension, Lickona (1992) stated that components of good character consists of: (1) knowing the good/moral knowing, (2) desiring the good or loving the good / moral feeling, and (3) acting the good / moral action.

In order not to become an adventure without any direction, the aim of character education should be unerring, and the method should be appropriate (Musfiroh, 2008), so that character education will achieve not only cognitive domain, but also affective and psychomotor domains.

With the aim of developing character education unerringly, Megawangi has, by basing on the noble values of the nation of Indonesia, developed The Nine Basic Character Pillars, including: (1) loving God, (2) being responsible, discipline, and independent, (3) being honest, (4) being respectful and courteous, (5) being compassionate, caring, and cooperating, (6) being self­confident and creative, also working hard and never giving up, (7) developing justice and leadership, (8) being good and humble, and (9) being tolerant, and loving peace and unity (Alvarez, 2008).

In order that character values may be internalized by early childhood children naturally without any coercion, the best learning method is through playing. This is in

Yulia Ayriza­ Early Childhood Children's Character Education through Playing

Yulia Ayriza­ Early Childhood Children's Character Education through Playing

From level to level of these six types or levels of social play, it is to be observable

that there is an increase in social participation­rule­governed behaviors. It also means

that the rule­bound activities, containing character education, can gradually be

socialized to children through levels as they grow in age and develope socially.

B.3. Relevancy between the Function of Play and Character Educatio

The purpose or function of play can be explained from two theories, namely classic and modern theories (Isenberg & Jalango, 2003).

According to classical theory, play is an activity that is based on some causes as follows: 1. Surplus energy: children need to play to exhaust their excess energy, 2. Recreation and relaxation: children restore energy that has been used to perform

activities. 3. Instinct: children practice life skills needed in the future, for example, learning to

playa role as a father or mother. 4. Recapitulation: children repeat the experience of their ancestors, for example,

chasing one another to repeat the hunting era.

According to modern theory, play can be viewed from three perspectives as follows: 1. Psychoanalytic Theory: Playing is a means of emotional release, allowing children

to express feelings freely without any pressure. 2. Theory of Cognitive Development: playing is a part of cognitive development,

besides that, it is a way of learning for children; playing trains children's flexible thinking and problem solving processes.

3. Cultural Theory: playing has a contradictory principle: at one stage, children are tied to pretending, and on the other, children are aware of their true identities.

According to both classic and modern theories, escensially playing can develop

various skills, including motoric, cognitive, affective, lingistic and social skills. In the context of character education, the role of playing is to develop social skills. For example, when children are playing pretend play, they may learn a variety of future rol anesd responsibilities required in their culture; they may play joyfully while practicing behaviors and some characters of their ideal­adults, which were generated from their ancestors, in their future lives.

B.4. Relevancy between Educators' Roles in Children's Playing and Character Education

During playing activities, the role of educators as mentors is highly necessary. Based on others' research findings, Isenberg and Jalongo (2003) presented some roles of teachers in children's playing activities as follows: 1. As an observer: observing 'the interaction between children and their playing

objects, the interaction among one another, the length of children's playing time, and the problems they face.

2. As an elaborator: when children keep playing with the same objects or the same theme time after time, teachers or educators may give advice to children to change the playing objects or the theme so that the playing does not seem monotone and becomes elaborated.

3. As a model: sometimes educators need to be models for children in order to help them playa particular role or behavior with a specific skill, for example, become a model of a rabbit mother who protects their children against the attacks of other animals.

4. As an evaluator: evaluating to what extent children's playing activities can meet their

needs, and how much children can learn so far.

5. As a planner: teachers or educators may prepare and organize the space and the instruments to play in order that children may play appropriately.

All these roles need to be played by all educators in developing children's

character so that educators can help children when they face problem, enrich children's

play, know whether or not a play stimulates children's character development, attain

feedback what progress children have got so far, and provide further supported

environment for children to perform their play constructively and joyfully.

B.S. The Role of Playing in Developing Children's Character

The character values that are aimed to be developed will be acquired by children through stages: moral knowing /knowing the good; moral feeling/desiring or loving the good; and moral action/acting the good. In this context, children's character value acquisition is explained through children's moral value acquisition because the two are viewed to have the same development processes (Ayriza, 2011).

Moral Knowing /Knowing the Good

Through fun and exciting playing, especially rule­bound ones, children under educators' guidance will acquire knowledge of good character values, known in Lickona's term (1992) as moral knowing.

According to Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory, early childhood children are at the heteronomous moral development stage; it means that children believe that the rules or regulations applied to them are unchangeable, for they are inherited traditionally from people of power so that children tend to accept the rules or regulations rigidly. Further, children also believe that the rules or regulations are established and will always be. As a result, children will relate the violation and the arrival of punishment automatically. For example, children who commit a mistake often look around anxiously because they believe that the arrival of punishment is unavoidable (Piaget, in Monks, Knoers, & Haditono, 2001; Santrock, 2008). Thus, the rules or regulations introduced to children who are at the heteronomous moral development stage will be accepted as they are and obeyed loyally.

Moral Feelings/Desiring or Loving the Good

The knowledge of good character values having been acquired by children, they need to be inculcated with feelings of guilt and shame when children violate the rules applied in a play or game, known in Lickona's term (1992) as moral feelings.

According to Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory, a person's personality structure consists of the id, the ego, and the superego. The superego starts showing its functioning when children are about three years old, at which they gather and adopt their parents' and community members' moral values. Once the superego starts functioning, the ego will be filled with feelings of guilt and shame when the superego judges the ego has done something wrong or guilty (Freud, in Rathus, 2007). In addition to shame and guilt, empathy also supports children's development in learning good character or moral values. To acquire empathy, children need to learn perspective taking (Eisenberg, 2006). By acquiring good character values affectively, children will desire or love the good.

Moral Action/Acting the Good

After having acquired knowledge of good character values (moral knowing), and felt guilty when violating regulations (moral feeling), children need to be trained to act the good through conditioning, known in Lickona's term (1992) as moral action.

Yulia Ayriza­ Early Childhood Children's Character Education through Playing

Yulia Ayriza­ Early Childhood Children's Character Education through Playing

According to Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (in Grusec, 2006), reinforcement,

punishment, and modeling are the processes that are able to explain children's moral

development. When children are rewarded for their complying behavior with rules or

social custom, they tend to repeat the behavior. Likewise, when children are punished

for their rule­violating behavior, they tend to abandon the behavior. In modeling the

behaviors they observed, children select the ones they want to model based on their

own intensions. In this context, the roles of children's cognition (internal factor) and the

models of their environment (external factor) collaboratively determine the actions they

actualize. If the reinforcing pattern is applied consistently in playing activities to the

developing good character values, children will habitually and unconsciously learn to

behave in accordance with the character values established so that eventually they will

get used to behaving in good manners.

In sum, it can be overall concluded that children may learn moral knowing, moral

feeling, and moral action through fun and unburdened playing.

CONCLUSIONS

Play is a natural source of learning to learn everything for early childhood children,

including learning character values. Through rule­bound playing, children learn the

knowledge of good character values (moral knowing). In early childhood, children are

at the stage of heteronome in their moral development; meaning that children will

accept whatever rules applied in their lives, including in their playing rigidly, and believe

that the rules are established and will always be. Therefore, along with the

development of their superego, children will feel guilty and ashamed if they violate the

established rules (moral feeling). Considering most activities of early childhood children

are playing, so applying rules in their daily playing activities, will lead them to being

conditioned to obey rules. By rewarding or reinforcing good behavior, educators will

make children tend to repeat the behavior, and by punishing bad behavior, they will

make children tend to leave out or abandon that bad behavior (moral action). Thus,

through joyful playing activities, children will unconsciously, without ant coercion,

accept instructions of moral knowing, moral feeling, and moral action. Hopefully, with

the presence of good character human beings, this nation and country will be led to

brighter future.

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Yulia Ayriza­ Early Childhood Children's Character Education through Playing